The New England Patriots look for a big sequel to last year’s turnaround season, but there’s significant doubters.
Part of that includes the offense regressing, but ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote, “don’t be surprised if … the offense doesn’t regress” despite the naysayers. Graziano broke down the main causes for the doubters, such as the soft schedule, but he noted that the Patriots actually faced tough defense last year.
“… Carolina, Buffalo [once], New Orleans, Cleveland and Atlanta finished in the top half of the league in total defense, and the Patriots beat them all,” Graziano wrote. “In their postseason run, the Pats beat the teams that finished fifth, first and second in total defense before ultimately losing the Super Bowl to the team that finished sixth. Drake Maye’s near-MVP season wasn’t the result of playing cupcake defenses. Heck, he won a game in which Myles Garrett had five sacks.
“The Patriots believe they’ve made major improvements to the offense with the additions of wide receivers A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs,” Graziano added. “They believe they’ve improved the offensive line and that the young linemen who struggled in the Super Bowl will be better this year. The Pats might take a step back defensively if they don’t get the kind of luck they got last season with opposing QBs, but the offense should remain excellent.”
Debunking the Soft Schedule Claim
Graziano isn’t denying that the 2025 Patriots didn’t have the strongest schedule. However, he explains a key reason why the Patriots had so much success with it.
“Much has been made about New England’s soft 2025 schedule, and justifiably so,” Graziano wrote. “But that was far more about the run of substandard quarterbacks the Patriots beat than it was about the opponent defenses.”
“The list of opposing starting QBs in the Patriots’ regular-season 2025 wins includes Tua Tagovailoa, Bryce Young, Spencer Rattler, Cam Ward, Dillon Gabriel, Michael Penix Jr., Justin Fields, Joe Flacco, Jaxson Dart, Brady Cook and Quinn Ewers,” Graziano added. “They also beat Baltimore in a game where Lamar Jackson left in the second quarter because of a back injury.
“Other than that game [which Tyler Huntley finished], the only two teams New England beat last season that finished in the top half of the league in QBR were the Bills [to whom they also lost] and the Buccaneers,” Graziano continued.
Patriots Projected For 7th-Best Offense
NFL.com’s Dan Parr has the Patriots at No. 7 for offense, and that is promising, considering the competition for the top spots in the league.
“There’s a case to be made that the Patriots’ offense is better than it was last season, when it tied for fifth in OPPG,” Parr wrote. “New England has reigning MVP runner-up Drake Maye at quarterback and perhaps a top-10 wide receiver [if Maye plays to his potential] now thanks to the acquisition of A.J. Brown.”
“That combination alone puts the Patriots light-years ahead of a lot of the competition,” Parr continued. “Adding WR Romeo Doubs didn’t hurt, either. I’m still not sure the offensive line won’t come back to bite OC Josh McDaniels, though.”
Parr wasn’t as bullish on the Patriots offensive line, but he sees good things in the backfield. If the Patriots are strong in those two areas, another Super Bowl run is realistic.
“Aside from the signing of oft-injured left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, though, the Pats didn’t do much to help the O-line for 2026,” Parr wrote. “First-round OT Caleb Lomu does not appear ready for prime time at the moment.”
“I like the one-two RB punch of Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson and TE Hunter Henry is eternally solid, but as the Seahawks demonstrated in Super Bowl LX, the whole unit collapses when the blocking doesn’t hold up, and that’s going to be a legitimate fear when the league’s better defensive fronts come calling,” Parr concluded.
Patriots Tabbed For Key Prediction Amid Doubters